Railway-car



(NoModelJ M. H. LANDERS.

RAILWAY CARL,

Patented May 23, 1882.

.\/\/|TNESSES lN\/ENTO R UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILTON H. LANDERS,OF SAN FRANOI SOO, CALIFORNIA.

RAI LWAY-CA R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 258,308, dated May 23,1882,

Application filed December 21, 1881. (No model.)-

To all whom it may concern.- 7

Be it known that I, MILTON HfLAnDERs, of the city and county of SanFrancisco, State of California, have invented a new and usefulImprovementin Railway-Oars, of which the fol l-owin g is aspecification.

My invention relates to all railway cars, whethertorfreight orpassengers, and whether used on streets in cities or upon lines passingover the country at rapid speed.

It consists in a guard of novel construction, designed to prevent anyobject upon the track from passing under the wheels.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front viewof my device. Fig.2 is a rear view. Fig. 3 is an edge view. Fig. 4 isa plan. Fig. 5 isaview of my device when applied to two wheels close together.

Detached details of parts are, identified by letters.

In all the figures the sameletters refer to the same parts.

A is the car-wheel; B, the wheel a'xle; O, the axle-box; D, the pedestalfor the box. E is the brake-shoe. F is the rail of the track. G G arethe two halves of my double guard, such as I propose for cars movingeither end foremost. plates of iron, supported on edge close to theoutside face of the wheel, and so far covering the wheel as to nearlyhide it from view. They bend around the tread of the wheel, while with agraceful curve they spread therefrom as the plates near the rails, anarrow, nearly rightangle return, a, being formed, lapping the insideface of wheel. At the points I) a stiifening-bead is provided, whichalso forms a rounded edge which will mount and ride over suchobstructions as the upturned end of a rail, &c.

Upon the box 0, where it projects through the pedestal, is hung andproperly fastened with tap-bolts a saddle-iron, H, terminating at itspendent ends with the half-joint of a hinge.

I I are straps secured firmly to the inside of the guards G G, which areattached to the saddle H, so as to form the other members of the hinges.the guards receive. There are, however, steel brackets J J fastenedagainst the sides of the saddle piece and projecting under the pins orspurs K, which are riveted inside the guards These guards are formed ofstout This gives the only firm support in position about as shown indrawings. These brackets give a yielding springy support.

LL are braces to stiffen the part of the guard where the shock of aconcussion will always come.

M M" are strap-washers, which connect the ends of the hinge bolts N N,and thus brace the ends of the saddle-piece apart and prevent them frombeing bent inward when a shock comes.

The edges of the guards at the side of the axle-box are not so closethereto as to prevent the guard lifting an inch ortwo, nor are the edgesof the guards below the fulcrum of the hinges so close as to prevent theguards being pressed down to the track. The edges will be cutaboutasshown in drawings. There should be no sharp edges about the guards wherethey may strike an. object-as, for instance, the leg of a man whomayhave fallen across the track. Rounded edges should be made Where theguards bend around the tread of the wheel.

For convenience of construction the front plate of guards may he of apiece separate from the ends, the two pieces being riveted together.

Bobtail cars always move the same end foremost. These need but singleguards, one side only of the wheel needing protection. Accordingly oneguard may be dispensed with in their case. Sometimes the axle-box isplaced inside the wheel instead of outside. This leads simply to amodification of the manner of attaching the hinges to the axle-box. Allthe principles of my device will remain the same in such a case. On oneside of the wheel there is the brakc-shoe. Upon that side the guard iscut away to accommodate it.

The operation of the device is as follows: Ordinarily the guard remainssupported in front of the wheel, with the lower edge about one inchabove the rail F. It is perfectly steady and does not vary in height,however much the body of the car may rise and fall upon itssupporting-springs. When an accident occurs and any object is thrownacross the track the point I) plows under it, which act depresses thispoint I) to the face of the rail. The guard then raises and throws asidethe object, which is kept from returning to the rail by the continuationof the guard along the face of the wheel.

If the wheels of a car happen to be too close together to permit each tohave a complete double guard, a single guard may be used at the outsideof each wheel and a simple stationary plate, 0, may be hung from thesaddlepiece in front of the wheels between the single guards. If therebe three wheels close together (as with sleeping-cars) this plan shouldbe adopted. (See Fig. 5, where the plate 0 is shown connecting betweentwo wheels moderately close together.)

It may be effective to apply some sort of a cushion, made of rubber orother suitable material, at that part of the guard where the 0b- 15 jectto be removed from the track will strike.

I show the outline of such a cushion by a dotted line on right-handguard in Fig. 2, (marked by the letter P.)

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isas follows:

1. The combination of the plow-shaped wheelguard G, extending around thetread and in front of the wheel, with the hinge-supports H and I,connected to axle-box O; and springbracket J, as and for the purposeherein (lescribcd. v

2. In combination with the guard G, the cushion I, as and for thepurpose herein described.

MILTON H. LANDERS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE PARDY, THOMAS H. BARCLAY.

